Lakdar Brahimi, the Secretary
General's Special Envoy to Afghanistan from 1997 to 1999,
arrived in Kabul on 21 December 2001. He and his staff absorbed
and replaced the former UN mission in the country, the United
Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, and established
the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). UNAMA has overall responsibility for all UN activities in the country.

Its mandate, which had to be re-examined after the completion of the Bonn Process, was defined in Security Council resolutions 1662 (2006) and 1747 (2007) and elaborated on in resolution 1806 (2008). On March 23 2009, the Security Council extended the UNAMA's mandate in resolution 1868. UNAMA is tasked to lead the international civilian efforts to:

promote more coherent support by the international community to the Afghan government;

strengthen the cooperation with ISAF in order to improve civil-military coordination;

provide political outreach, promote at the local level the implementation of the Afghanistan Compact, the ANDS and other strategies;

provide good offices to support the implementation of Afghan-led reconciliation programs;

support efforts to improve governance and the rule of law and to combat corruption;

play a central coordinating role to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance;

continue to assist in the full implementation of fundamental freedoms and human rights;

support the electoral process;

support regional cooperation to work towards a stable and prosperous Afghanistan;

The Mission consists of two main pillars, headed by the SRSG's two deputies. The first is a political pillar, monitoring the political and human rights situation in the country. It also maintains contact with Afghan leaders and the international community. The second pillar is focusing on relief, recovery, and reconstruction. There are currently more than 1,200 staff, most of them Afghan (209 international civilians, 959 local civilians, 16 military observers, 3 civilian police, 30 UN volunteers). The headquarters is in Kabul, with 9 provincial and 8 regional offices throughout Afghanistan.

On 10 March 2008, Kai Eide was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of UNAMA. During his first few months in office, he focused on reaching out to all key players and engaging them in discussions on a more coherent approach, notably through a number of visits to countries such as the US, Canada, Iran and Pakistan as well as his participation in the NATO summit in April 2008 and the international donor conference in June 2008. Having received strong verbal support from all sides, he believes that he possesses the tools needed for a successful UN role in Afghanistan. While pushing donors to accept being coordinated and move from process-oriented to delivery-oriented consultation mechanisms, he also recognizes the urgent need for the Afghan government to combat corruption and improve governance.

UNAMA's role has been harshly criticised in a January 2009 report by the Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM), a newly established Kabul-based rights watch dog. According to the report, entitled "The Plight of the Afghan People in 2008", the UN and other aid agencies have failed in reaching and delivering aid to the neediest of communities. The report went further in accusing the UN and other aid organizations of retreating to the security zones in Kabul and other major cities. It urged the UN to maintain its neutrality and venture into the more volatile areas of the country in order to assist those affected by the ongoing conflict. ARM also states that civilian casualties are underreported and that the problem is worse than it has been made out to be. The report estimates that about 3,917 civilians were killed, over 6,800 were wounded and about 120,000 were forced out of their homes. These figures are said to be higher than those reported by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and UNAMA. All sides in the conflict were charged with "repeated and systematic" violations of international human rights law, the Geneva Conventions and Afghanistan's laws regarding conflict. However, the UN has strenuously refuted these allegations. Dan McNorton, a UNAMA spokesman responded to the reports by saying that the report overlooked UNAMA's regional and provincial presence. He cited the thousands of road missions, immunization programs, returnee assistance projects, food assistance and disaster relief efforts that the UN has undertaken. The report was labelled as "superficial and deeply uninformed." Despite this dismissive response from the UN spokesman greater analysis is needed to ensure that aid is reaching the neediest of Afghans and that the UN and other organizations are having the greatest possible impact on the majority of Afghans.

Discussions about a separate OCHA office

In recent months aid agencies providing assistance in Afghanistan have been advocating for the re-establishment of an independent UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) outside the UNAMA mission structure. They believe that the neutrality and independence of humanitarian assistance is at risk as long as its coordination is part of the mandate of an integrated UN mission with a clear political mandate to support the Afghan government. UNAMA, however, is concerned that establishing a separate OCHA office could be counter-productive because it would fragment the coordination effort at a time when donors are trying to improve coherence.

In addition to UNAMA, there are nearly twenty other UN agencies and programs operating in Afghanistan. In 2006, all UN agency program plans were harmonized to operate on a three year cycle, from January 2006 to January 2008.[1]

UNDP is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. In Afghanistan, the Program operates within the framework of the integrated UNAMA mission and within the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). Together with the Government of Afghanistan, it is focusing on three development areas:

Faced with a long reconstruction process, national government services lack sufficient resources to meet all priorities. UNDP focuses on strengthening institutional capacity to enforce the rule of law and provide public administration services to Afghans. In its support to public administration, UNDP provides public sector management, information management, aid coordination and tracking of resources.

Good governance is one of the most important factors in eradicating poverty and promoting development. In line with the Bonn Agreement and the Millennium Development Declaration, UNDP is supporting the Government of Afghanistan in its efforts to consolidate its institutions, to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, and to promote human rights and gender equality.

UNDP is providing training, employment and investment opportunities that assist Afghan communities to continue the physical reconstruction of their country, to remove the remnants of war and reintegrate former combatants, and to face future human development challenges.

Since major repatriation operations to Afghanistan resumed in 2002, more than 5 million Afghans have returned to their country, mostly from Pakistan and Iran. Another half million internally displaced people have gone back home. However, approximately 3 million Afghans still remain in the two neighboring countries alone. Localized conflict continues to displace some communities within Afghanistan, while poverty and lack of job opportunities oblige many Afghans to seek employment abroad.

After the huge return movements of 2002-2004, the pace of repatriation has dropped in the last three years. Nevertheless, Afghanistan has been UNHCR's largest repatriation operation worldwide for six consecutive years. Voluntary repatriation will continue to be the preferred durable solution. In 2007, UNHCR has adjusted its support for initial travel and reintegration assistance to bring it more into line with recent cost increases. It will continue to support a shelter program - with an additional 10,000 units in 2007 - that has built new homes for more than a million returnees since 2002. Cooperation with the Afghan authorities to allocate land for poor and homeless returnees and local people will be intensified. Moreover, UNHCR will continue to work closely with the Afghan government and its international partners to identify new opportunities to address employment, livelihood, and social sector requirements.

UNICEF's priorities in Afghanistan
are education, child health, and the demobilization of child
soldiers. In 2006, UNICEF will provide $61 million to various
ministries for health, education, and protection of women's
and children's rights. This is part of a new three year
deal signed in February 2006 with the respective ministries.
Specifically, UNICEF will focus on community-based education,
curriculum development and teacher training, women's literacy,
hygiene courses, immunization, training of maternal health
workers, and policy-level support for child labour and trafficking
initiatives.[16] UNICEF has
shifted from implementing projects to supporting government
agencies in implementing projects.[17]
UNICEF has also been heavily involved in disaster relief.

Since the establishment of a transitional government in June 2002, WFP's operations have shifted from emergency assistance to rehabilitation and recovery. The current program aims to provide 520,000 metric tonnes of food aid to 6.6 million Afghans between January 2006 and December 2008 - at a cost of US$ 372 million. On average, WFP will distribute food to 3.5 million people each year, primarily in remote, food-insecure rural areas. In 2007 along, the UN expects to deliver about 225,000 tonnes of food.

WFP will target chronically poor and food-insecure families, schoolchildren, teachers, illiterate people, tuberculosis patients and their families, internally displaced persons and ex-combatants - with a particular emphasis on vulnerable women and girls. WFP will provide assistance to its beneficiaries through a range of relief and recovery activities, including food for work, food for training and food for education. These projects will be implemented in partnership with the Afghan government, other UN agencies (notably UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, FAO and UNHCR), Community Development Councils and non-governmental organisations.

In the recent past, WFP has increasingly been affected by insecurity in its areas of operation. Especially in southern Afghanistan, its convoys carrying food donations have repeatedly coming under attack. The Program has lost more food between October 2006 and October 2007 through those attacks than in the previous three years. About 1,000 tonnes of wheat, beans, cooking oil and fortified biscuits have been waylaid or vanished since January. About 30 attacks on local Afghan trucks moving the food between volatile southern districts are blamed on insurgents who resent foreign intervention, or sometimes on bandits who later sell donations meant to sustain the poorest families.

"The mandate of FAO in Afghanistan
is to support agricultural and environmental rehabilitation
and assist the country to become a food secure and self-reliant
nation in accordance with the principles of the National
Development Framework of the Afghan Government."[21]
FAO works in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture
and Animal Husbandry, the Ministry of Irrigation, Water
Resources and the Environment and the Ministry of Rural
Rehabilitation and Development. The main office of FAO Afghanistan
is in Kabul. As agriculture and animal husbandry support
an estimated 85% of Afghanistan's population, the FAO established
a Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Information Management
and Policy unit (FAAHM) in the Ministry of Agriculture and
Animal Husbandry in July 2003, with US and German funding.
The FAO runs several programs concerning food security,
livestock, crops and seeds, forestry, and institution building,
all in cooperation with ministries and local communities[22]
The FAO is also involved in veterinary services and the
fight against avian flu in Afghanistan.[23]
Information on FAO budgets in Afghanistan is not available
on any FAO websites.

UNHABITAT was formed in 1978 with
a vision to alleviate the problems associated with mass
urbanization. It is a development agency, focused on poverty
reduction and sustainability.[24]
UNHABITAT has been in Afghanistan since 1991.[25]
It worked with communities during the Taliban years to foster
democratic methods of governance. This was called the Community
Forums Programme. UNHABITAT works with the Ministry of Urban
Development and Housing. UNHABITAT drew on its lessons from
the Community Forums programs to draft the National Solidarity
Programme (NSP), the Afghan government's principle community
development/project implementation program. The NSP will
be coordinated with the Ministry of Rural Reconstruction
and Development. UNHABITAT works with municipal governments
as well to conduct projects to improve urban infrastructure.
This is done in partnership with various NGOs and civil
organizations. In 2003, US$15 million was spent on infrastructure
projects. One key project was a Municipal Solid Waste Management
Programme. This involved waste collection, education and
awareness, and disposal.[26]

UNIFEM began operations in Afghanistan
in early 2002, consulting with Afghan women to formulate
its strategy. Its goal is to increase options and opportunities
for women through making overall development more equitable.
The two principle aims are to strengthen capacity and leadership
of women's networks and gather political and financial support
for women. This is done by supporting capacity-building
in the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) and supporting
other women's groups. Protocols have been arranged with
the ministries of education, health, commerce, planning,
and justice to ensure mainstreaming of gender into their
areas of operations. Women's Development Centres have been
established at the provincial and community levels. Working
with NGOS, they provide literacy and health education, computer
skills and English training, and income generation workshops.
Seven of these centres have been opened as of March 2006.[27]
UNIFEM also works to promote women in the Afghan media,
and to raise awareness of women's rights and violence against
women. To this end, UNIFEM works with UNESCO, MOWA, and
the Ministry of Information and Culture. Principle donors
include Italy, Japan, Denmark, Finland, the USA, the Netherlands,
Ireland, and Belgium. UNIFEM efforts have resulted in President
Karzai announcing an inter-ministerial Task Force to Eliminate
Violence Against Women (VAW) on 6 June 2005. Support for
this initiative came from the government of Italy. There
are currently about 30 UNIFEM staff members in Afghanistan.[28]
In March 2005 UNIFEM began publishing the newsletter "Gender
Advocacy in Afghanistan."

UNESCO formed the International Coordinating
Committee for the Safeguarding of Afghanistan's Cultural
Heritage in 2002. It works to protect sites like the Minaret
of Jam and the Bamian statues, and also supports the restoration
of the Kabul museum. UNESCO provides literacy training and
scientific training, and also supports NGOs involved in
recovering cultural artifacts removed from the country.[29]

The UNODC cooperates with the Afghan
government's Ministry of Counter Narcotics to maintain an
opium monitoring system and to conduct annual opium surveys.
It conducts the annual surveys using satellite imagery and
ground surveys.[30] UNODC runs
several other projects besides monitoring, including a drug
demand reduction training program for women in refugee camps
in Pakistan, training and capacity-building with the Counter
Narcotics Directorate, infrastructure activities as an alternative
to opium cultivation, and training a drug law enforcement
unit.[31] A list of projects
and updated publications by UNODC are available on the UNODC
website.

UNEP aided the passing of crucial
legislation designed to protect the environment in January
2006. As 80% of Afghans rely on natural resources for their
livelihoods, this was an important contribution. Called
the Environment Act, it provides for sustainability and
laws that allow the government to enforce the Act.[32]
UNEP also conducted the Post-Conflict Environment Assessment
and Capacity Building Programme, and published the "Afghanistan
Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment" in 2003. Canada
provided nearly a third of the funding required for the
Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment with a contribution
of €248,020.[33] UNEP worked
with the Ministry of Irrigation, Water Resources and Environment's
(MIWRE) National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA)
on that project. The project was started in 2002, after
the Emergency Loya Jirga.[34]
Since the report, at the request of the MIWRE UNEP has been
working on increasing the capacity of the Department of
Environment. UNEP provides training to NEPA personnel, gives
technical assistance and advice on an as-needed basis, and
supplies office and field equipment, while NEPA is the final
decision-making body. UNEP works to improve assessment and
enforcement, and is working to develop educational programs
at Kabul University and Kabul Polytechnicum to train environmental
experts.[35] The UNEP Capacity
Building and Institutional Development Programme for Environmental
Management was launched on 28 October 2003. The purpose
of the program is to develop a stand-alone NEPA. The program
is now expected to continue until 2008. Funding was received
from the European Commission, the Government of Finland,
and the Global Environment Facility.[36]
UNEP does not, as of April 2006, have an updated website
on its Afghanistan activities.

Rather than a separate unit dedicated
to human rights, UNHCHR is manifested through a senior human
rights advisor posted to the office of the SRSG. Human rights
principles are integrated in all of the operations of UNAMA.
There are two pillars of human rights activities. The first
is monitoring investigation, and community liaison. The
second pillar is human rights education, institution building,
and humanitarian protection.[37]

This organization is responsible
for planning, coordinating, and implementing mine action
on behalf of the government of Afghanistan. The organization
works in cooperation with NGOs, government ministries, and
donor agencies.[38]

UNOPS operates as a contract organization
within the UN system. While functioning similar to a private
contractor, UNOPS does not earn a profit for its services.
In Afghanistan, UNOPS implements and manages development
projects in cooperation with other UN agencies, the Afghan
government, and international donors. UNOPS currently has
300 international and 200,000 national staff in Afghanistan.
Since 2002, it has been redirected as a service provider
for the Afghan government and UN agencies.[39]
UNOPS manages development projects from start to finish
or as needed. It hires personnel, procures goods, organizes
training, manages financial resources, administers loans,
and more. Funding for UNOPS activities comes from fees charged
for its services. On average, UNOPS manages 25 major projects
and over 1,000 sub-projects. The estimated value of these
projects and associated labour is US$600 million.[40]
UNOPS also implements quick-impact projects for PRTs, in
cooperation with the International Organization for Migration,
the US military, and with funding from USAID. Thirty-five
projects have been completed so far, with another 39 underway.[41]
UNOPS Afghanistan website: http://www.unops.org.af/default.asp?aktion=1&sub=1
(No date is provided for the information on this website.)

"UNFPA supports countries in
using population data for policies and programmes to reduce
poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every
birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and
every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect."[42]
UNFPA has been active in Afghanistan since the late 1970s
in the areas of population and reproductive health/family
planning. Since September 2001 UNFPA activities have focused
on three core areas: reproductive health, women's issues/gender,
and population census. In 2003, UNFPA shifted its focus
from humanitarian assistance to a developmental approach.
Examples of UNFPA activities include the rehabilitation
of three hospitals in Kabul, supporting reproductive health
services in under-served areas, using the media to promote
change, rehabilitation of the Ministry of Women's Affairs
Vocational Training Centre and offices, and income generation
projects for women. UNFPA also places technical experts
in related ministries. Detailed information of its project
activities, under the title of "Country Program Action
Plan," can be found online at http://afghanistan.unfpa.org/program.html.
This plan is for the period 2006-2008.[43]
UNFPA proposes a budget of US$52 million for this period,
with $15.4 million going to reproductive health projects,
$4.5 to gender-related projects, $31.5 million going to
population and development projects, and $0.6 million going
to programme coordination.[44]

The mission of UNIDO is to provide
"tailor-made solutions for the sustainable industrial
development of developing countries and countries with economies
in Transition."[45] UNIDO
has developed a Country Service Framework plan for 2005-2008.
This plan will assist the Afghan government to develop the
Ministry of Mines and Industry (MMI), provide technical
assistance for the rehabilitation of factories, encourage
private enterprise, and help poor rural communities to engage
in viable farming to reduce their dependence on relief aid.[46]
The Country Service Framework plan is divided into two components.
The first is based on creating an environment favourable
to industrial development through advising the MMI on industrial
policy, addressing unfavourable investment climates caused
by too heavy bureaucratic structures, and promoting domestic
trade. The second component comprises, among other things,
direct assistance to the poor to stimulate the economy and
reconstruction, providing small-business assistance programs,
and construction training and assistance for farmers.[47]

Afghanistan is a signatory to this
convention, signed in 1995. The purpose of the Convention
is to develop unified strategies to combat desertification
with sustainable development. Desertification is a growing
problem due to overgrazing and deforestation.[48]
Recently, UNCCD provided the Ministry of Agriculture US$49,000
to collect information and documents, organize a national
conference, and hire a consultant for the creation of a
medium-sized project in Afghanistan.[49]

UNCCD website: http://www.unccd.int/main.php
(Updated regularly, but contains little Afghanistan information.
However it provides a point of contact with the Ministry
of Agriculture Representative.)

The IOM has been in Afghanistan for
twelve years. Since 2001, IOM had helped 430,000 displaced
persons return to their homes, as of March 2005. Working
with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, IOM has
programs to facilitate return. Examples of such programs
are the IDP Return and Reintegration Assistance Program,
The Return of Qualified Afghans Program (which seeks to
draw Afghans living in the EU back to Afghanistan), and
the reintegration component of DDR in northern Afghanistan.
IOM implements quick-impact projects for PRTs, funded by
USAID. The focus is on small infrastructure projects. IOM
also works with USAID on a Schools and Clinics Construction
and Refurbishment program. IOM works with the ministries
of Women's Affairs, Justice, and Interior on counter-trafficking
initiatives.[50] IOM also has
an Afghan Transition Initiative (ATI) to help increase the
Afghan government's responsiveness to citizens' needs, increase
citizen awareness and participation in the democratic process,
and increase the capacity of the Afghan media. The ATI is
funded by USAID. So far US$33,000,000 has been handed out
in 558 grants for various projects.[51]
IOM relies on a fleet of 50 trucks and 25 light escort vehicles
in its transportation activities. It works closely with
UNHCR to accomplish this. To help make the journey easier
and safer, IOM operates three transit centres where returnees
can get a warm meal and spend a safe night.[52]
The IOM reintegration unit offers trade skills training,
employment placement, grants for business start-ups, advice,
and agricultural assistance.[53]

[5] Kofi Annan, "The Situation
in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace
and security; Emergency international assistance for peace,
normalcy, and reconstruction of war-stricken Afghanistan."
A/60/712-A/2006/145 (7 March 2006): 13.
http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/sgrep06.htm

[11] Kofi Annan, "The Situation
in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace
and security; Emergency international assistance for peace,
normalcy, and reconstruction of war-stricken Afghanistan."
A/60/712-A/2006/145 (7 March 2006): 9. http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/sgrep06.htm